INTERNACIONAL
Obama’s brother-in-law rejects civil rights, racism argument against college sports overhaul
While a bill to add a new swath of regulations to college sports is generating a swell of bipartisan support, some opponents are suggesting that the bill itself is racist.
The Protect College Sports Act, pushed by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has so far survived two key hurdles in the Senate and is on its way to a final vote in the coming week.
However, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, the Congressional Black Caucus and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., one of a handful of Senate Democrats pushing against the bill, have argued that the bill would disproportionately affect Black student-athletes and put their newfound agency in decision-making granted by name, image and likeness (NIL) back into the hands of White coaches and college presidents.
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«It’s a civil rights issue. That’s the reason the NAACP is strongly opposing this bill, because they see it as a civil rights issue,» Murphy told Digital. «I didn’t make that up. That’s the reality.
«The athletes who will be most affected by this bill are largely Black athletes, and the people who will be helped by this bill are largely White coaches and White college sports executives,» he continued. «I’m not the one who sees this as a civil rights issue. The NAACP opposes it because they see this as a civil rights issue.»
The Protect College Sports Act would broadly add restrictions to the transfer portal for student-athletes and create a uniform eligibility framework of five years, recruiting and tampering guardrails that establish when schools or agents can contact or recruit a student-athlete, a federal standard for NIL rules and a revenue-sharing cap.
Proponents of the bill, including former President Barack Obama’s brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, who is the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, argued that the bill did not disenfranchise Black athletes.
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«Well, you know everybody is entitled to their interpretation of what’s going on,» Robinson told Digital. «I would disagree with that, and I would point out that if we don’t fix this system, the same student-athletes they’re talking about are not going to be college educated, because you cannot get educated by transferring to four or five different schools. You can’t get a college degree doing that, so that’s what I would say.»
Robinson was one of several former coaches who made the trip to Washington, D.C., this week to promote and support the bill.
Craig Bohl, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, told Digital the assertion that the legislation had racist undertones was «the farthest thing from the truth.»
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«You know, one of the things that has been good for me, you know, working 43 years, coaches care deeply about all our players,» Bohl said. «And while I appreciate their convictions on it, it’s a misguided statement.
«What we’re looking at is opportunities for all. We want players to have an opportunity for compensation,» he continued. «We want players to be able to have the ability to transfer. We also are looking for some stability with eligibility. We don’t need NFL players coming back playing in our game.»
The Congressional Black Caucus has argued against the bill for months and charged that its members would not support the legislation after the Supreme Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act earlier this year.
«Honestly, some of those concerns initially were over redistricting, and, you know, I’m not solving that problem with this bill,» Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., one of the co-leads of the bill, told Digital.
«We’re just trying to address the chaos that exists right now in college athletics, where 27-year-olds are playing against 17-year-olds, unlimited transfers, graduation rates are plummeting.»
politics, senate, barack obama, ncaa, ncaa fb, campus controversy
INTERNACIONAL
Francia: frente al tercer sábado consecutivo de protestas, Macron desplegará un megaoperativo con 70.000 policías
Francia se prepara para afrontar este sábado su tercera jornada consecutiva de movilizaciones contra el encarecimiento de la vida y el deterioro de los servicios públicos, en un contexto de creciente tensión social.
El Gobierno del presidente Emmanuel Macron considera que existe un riesgo muy elevado de disturbios, especialmente por los llamamientos difundidos en las redes sociales para cometer saqueos y actos de violencia durante la noche de Halloween.
El ministro del Interior, Laurent Nuñez, anunció el despliegue de unos 70.000 policías y gendarmes en todo el país. El operativo incluirá unidades de élite, drones, helicópteros, vehículos blindados y brigadas ecuestres y caninas.
Además, las autoridades anticiparon que mantendrán la vigilancia durante la noche, ante convocatorias a participar en manifestaciones violentas a partir de las 20.
Nuñez advirtió que algunos de los mensajes detectados en las redes sociales llaman a una “revolución”. También señaló que se identificaron convocatorias para acudir disfrazados de Halloween a las concentraciones. En ese sentido, anunció que las reuniones de ese tipo serán prohibidas y que tampoco se permitirá ocultar el rostro con máscaras en el espacio público.
La preocupación del Ejecutivo se explica por los episodios registrados el pasado 17 de octubre, durante la primera jornada de protestas. En aquella oportunidad, grupos violentos incendiaron edificios públicos y protagonizaron saqueos en unos 3.000 comercios de distintas ciudades, entre ellas París, Lyon y Marsella. Las movilizaciones reunieron entre 550.000 personas, según la policía, y 800.000, de acuerdo con la Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT).
Los incidentes también alcanzaron edificios institucionales, como los ayuntamientos de Limoges y Marsella y la oficina de turismo de Lyon. Tras los disturbios, Nuñez presentó su renuncia, pero el presidente Macron la rechazó. El ministro había reconocido que las fuerzas de seguridad perdieron el control en algunas ciudades.
En la segunda convocatoria, el 24 de octubre, el refuerzo del operativo policial y las restricciones a las manifestaciones en los centros urbanos contribuyeron a reducir los episodios de violencia. Sin embargo, las protestas volvieron a reunir entre 410.000 y 800.000 participantes, según las estimaciones oficiales y sindicales.
Para este sábado, las autoridades volvieron a delimitar las zonas habilitadas para las concentraciones y buscaron evitar que las marchas ingresen en los centros de las principales ciudades. La decisión generó un nuevo conflicto con los sindicatos y los llamados chalecos amarillos, que consideran que las restricciones buscan limitar el derecho a manifestarse.
protestas
INTERNACIONAL
‘Biscuit’ the dog is latest dead felon to get their voting rights back from Spanberger, confused owner says
A Southside Virginia lawmaker is demanding an investigation after a constituent received an official rights-restoration certificate for his dog, Biscuit, a beagle-hound mix from Goochland County that died about five years ago.
The discovery follows the «Betty No Last Name» controversy in Chesapeake — where a purported convict lacking a surname had «her» rights restored — and raises fresh questions about the governor’s vetting process just days before voters decide whether to make felons’ voting-rights restoration automatic via an Election Day ballot measure supported by Richmond Democrats.
Del. Tom Garrett, R-Buckingham — who received the letter from the constituent who owned the pet — is now calling for an investigation into how Gov. Abigail Spanberger could have restored voting and jury-service rights to a deceased animal.
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«This is not a question of whether people who have served their sentences deserve a second chance. This is a question of whether the Commonwealth is exercising one of the Governor’s constitutional powers with even the most basic level of review,» Garrett said.
«Biscuit was a dog. Biscuit has been dead for five years. Yet an official document bearing the governor’s signature says the executive reviewed the particulars of Biscuit’s criminal case and determined her rights should be restored. Virginians deserve an explanation for how that is possible.»
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Biscuit’s owner, who declined to be identified to avoid political backlash, confirmed the letter’s authenticity to Digital and told Garrett in a statement that the pup was a «good dog and is greatly missed.»
«To my knowledge, she was never convicted of a felony, nor did she ever show any interest in voting,» the owner said.
Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment.
A spokesperson for Spanberger replied, «Of course we did not restore the rights of a dog. We cannot disclose this individual’s information, but we can tell you that it is associated with a person with a date of birth and Social Security number.»
The owner told Digital that Biscuit was never sent to the pound or had any other contact with Richmond that could have resulted in her being placed on the voting rolls. The owner said a sibling is currently incarcerated but added that the connection is moot because Spanberger’s stated effort only involves released former convicts.
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Garrett noted in a statement that the Spanberger administration said in July that Secretary of the Commonwealth Candi Mundon-King would be «proactively identifying Virginians who had lost their rights, confirming that those individuals were eligible, and restoring their rights,» in his words.
Spanberger announced in August that the initial figure of 66,000 had reached 100,000 individuals who had received restoration of their rights since the Democrat took office in January.
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«The administration told Virginians these individuals were being identified and their eligibility confirmed,» Garrett said in a statement, going on to call for an investigation into how a restoration certificate bearing Biscuit’s name came to be issued.
«The document itself represents that the executive reviewed the particulars of each case. If a deceased family pet made it through that process as a convicted felon, then we need to know what was actually reviewed, what databases were used, what safeguards existed, and how many other erroneous restorations were issued.»
An attorney in Fluvanna County when not legislating, Garrett said the Commonwealth must launch an immediate independent audit of Spanberger’s restoration-of-rights actions and disclose the underlying record that led to «Biscuit Rigsby» being identified as a convicted felon, as well as what Spanberger’s office defines as the «review of the particulars» of Biscuit’s case.
Any investigation should also identify how many certificates and citations were issued to deceased, nonexistent or duplicate humans and require the immediate preservation of relevant data.
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He said in a statement that his questions are not partisan and that Virginians who support restoring released felons’ voting rights should be outraged by Biscuit’s case.
«At what point does rank incompetence and malfeasance become criminal conduct?» Garrett added in a video posted to social media.
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With Virginians set to vote Tuesday on whether to make voting-rights restoration automatic upon release from incarceration, Garrett is demanding answers about the administration’s existing review process — including how a dog that died five years ago apparently made it through.
abigail spanberger, virginia, politics, voting, state and local, elections
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While en route to Senegal, Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki turned his plane around and returned home after police entered Poland’s top court, the Constitutional Tribunal, and the tribunal’s president was suspended.
«At such a moment, the President must be in Poland,» Nawrocki posted on X. «I’m interrupting my flight to Senegal. I’m returning.»
Police say they secured the Tribunal after dozens of protesters gathered to demonstrate against what they called the wrongful suspension of the top court’s president by the current pro-European government.
Police said there were also dangerous objects thrown at officers outside the building.
Protesters gather outside the headquarters of the Poland’s Constitutional Court in Warsaw after police blocked access to the court building on Oct. 30, 2026 (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images)
Some protesters outside the court were seen praying, while others held posters reading «Tusk — a symbol of anti-Polish sentiment,» «Down with the commies and Tusk’s regime,» and «Stop destroying the state.»
Poland’s top judicial bodies, including the Constitutional Tribunal, have been a major bone of contention between the current pro-European government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and the main opposition party, national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), which ruled the country from 2015 to 2023.
Critics accuse the PiS of imposing political control over key judicial institutions, with some reforms having led the EU to impose fines on Poland.
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Nawrocki, an ally of the PiS party, refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament earlier this year.
Constitutional Tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski, who was appointed by the PiS government after also serving as a deputy justice minister, declined to allow judges elected by the current parliamentary majority to assume their duties. According to the tribunal’s website, Święczkowski was suspended Friday.
Protesters rally outside Poland’s top court as tensions between President Karol Nawrocki and Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government intensify. (AP)
«Restoring the rule of law is our duty,» said Tusk, who returned to power in 2023 with a promise to restore the judiciary’s independence. He posted to X, «After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.»
Since taking power, Tusk’s pro-European government’s efforts have been vetoed by two successive presidents aligned with PiS, including Nawrocki.
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Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, a former PiS member whose Rozwój Plus coalition is positioning itself as an alternative to Tusk’s government ahead of next November’s parliamentary elections, also took to X to denounce «the forceful takeover of the Constitutional Tribunal.»
Police officers stand behind the fence with a rosary hanging on it as protesters gather outside the headquarters of Poland’s Constitutional Court in Warsaw after police blocked access to the court building on 30 October, 2026 (Getty Images)
«Justice cannot be achieved through violence,» Morawiecki said, adding that «Tusk will stop at nothing to cling to power… We do not consent to Belarusian methods in Poland!»
«It’s true: a coup d’état is underway,» former PiS Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on X. «If someone were to forcibly break into the Prime Minister’s Office and take it over, we would all know what to call it… This is a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order… That is why I call for resistance that will be loud, firm, solidary and fearless.»
world, world elections, world politics
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